Wednesday, May 10, 2017

The Beauty of Ugly Feet and Toenails. . .

Mike Hosey, An Elder

Most people
don’t put “feet” and “beautiful” in the same stream of thought.Generally speaking, feet get a bad rap, and
are more often associated with stinky socks, smelly sneakers, the aroma of the
boy’s high school locker room on a Friday afternoon in May, sweaty ickyness,
cold clamminess, or toenails.And let’s
face it toenails and the rest of that stuff are NOT beautiful unless you’re a troll,
or Oscar the Grouch.

But as is
often the case, God doesn’t always see things in the same way that we do.On at least two different occasions in the
Bible (Romans 10:15, and Isaiah 52:7), feet are described as beautiful.They’re described that way because they
transport the people who bring good news. When I was a soldier training at Fort Sam
Houston, TX, there was a truck that rolled around the post.We called it the roach coach.There was really nothing beautiful about the
appearance of that truck. But whenever I saw it, I had a good feeling.It was full of cold drinks, snacks and a
variety of goodies. It wouldn’t have mattered if the truck looked like a train
wreck in a wet chicken coup, its appearance wasn’t important. Its contents
were, and because of that, I saw it as attractive.

Notice that
in those feet verses the focus isn’t so much on what God sees as beautiful
(although I think he does see those feet as beautiful) but rather on what the
recipients of their messages see.Feet
that normally appeared ugly, now appeared beautiful because they brought the
best news possible – that people could be friends and children of God once
again. When you are outside the will of God, and when you are not friends with
the person who sustains all life, you are in a desperate place.

Interestingly,
these messengers were in a win-win situation.God considered them beautiful for their obedience to the Gospel, and
their fellow man considered them beautiful for playing a part in their rescue
and restoration. And even more beautiful
than all of this, is that you can be just as beautiful as they were when you
take the message to those people who haven’t yet received it.When they do receive it, you too, will be
beauty in their life! So no matter how ugly you think your feet are, they can
be among the most beautiful objects in the world to the people you touch with
the gospel!